BOSTON (AP) — William Contreras hit a two-run home run, Christian Yelich had three hits and Bryse Wilson tossed 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox 7-2 on Friday night.
Blake Perkins had two hits and two stolen bases for the NL Central-leading Brewers. Wilson (3-1) came in with two down in the first inning and matched his career high with seven strikeouts. Willy Adames and Yelich also drove in runs for Milwaukee, which played the seventh game of a nine-game road trip.
Boston had runners on first and second in the first when Wilson was summoned. He struck out Tyler O’Neill for the final out of the first inning and was rarely tested during his outing.
“There’s still room for better execution. Overall, it was a good outing from start to finish,” Wilson said.
Jarren Duran and David Hamilton each had three hits for Boston, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Dominic Smith homered for the second time since signing with the Red Sox on May 1.
Contreras jumped on a 1-0 pitch from Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford (2-3) and sent it into the second row of Green Monster seats for his eighth homer of the season in the third inning. The two-run shot came one batter after Brice Turang lifted a sacrifice fly that delivered the game’s first run.
The home run by Contreras took out a fan’s popcorn bucket after bouncing off the area behind where the fan was sitting.
“It seemed that it got out of the park in a hurry,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said.
The Brewers chased Crawford in the fifth inning, as Yelich doubled in a run that made it 4-1 and Adames connected for a two-run double.
“Everyone has to respect William, but he has (Yelich) hitting behind him. When he’s hitting, that’s helping everyone,” Murphy said. “There was some good hard contact tonight and we stayed relentless by getting on base.”
Crawford’s ERA jumped from 2.17 to 2.89 after he allowed six runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.
“He had a tough time putting people away. They extended at-bats and credit to them. They’re a good ballclub,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.
Boston’s first run came in the fourth when Hamilton squeaked one inside the third base bag for an RBI double. Smith’s home run came in the fourth.
Duran led off the bottom of the first with a single that extended his hitting streak to nine games.
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TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: RHP Enoli Paredes was selected from Triple-A Nashville while Milwaukee optioned RHP Bradley Blalock to Double-A Biloxi. Between 2020-22, Paredes appeared in 37 games with the Houston Astros.
Red Sox: RHP Isaiah Campbell (right shoulder impingement) is slated to make a second rehab appearance for Triple-A Worcester on Saturday. On the injured list since April 12, Campbell struck out the side in one inning for the WooSox earlier this week. … 1B Triston Casas (left rib strain) took ground balls before Friday’s game. He’s currently on the 60-day IL and has yet to swing a bat since getting injured. “Moving around, that’s a huge step. Hopefully he’s a quick healer,” manager Alex Cora said. … RHP Bryan Mata will be examined in Boston on Saturday after feeling soreness in his shoulder and lat. He pitched three innings on Thursday in a rehab start for Double-A Portland. Mata is on Boston’s 40-man roster and out of options. … 1B Garrett Cooper was a last-second scratch from Wednesday’s game due to right shoulder soreness. Cooper wasn’t in Friday’s starting lineup but Cora said he was available. Cooper was summoned as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning.
UP NEXT:
Milwaukee lists RHP Colin Rea (3-2, 3.97) as Saturday’s probable starter. RHP Nick Pivetta (2-2, 3.04) will start for Boston.
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This story has been changed to correct the spelling of Milwaukee pitcher Wilson’s first name to Bryse instead of Bryce.
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